Lunch with the crush

Who: Dylan and Leija
When: lunchtime
Where: MSHS

School was back in normal session, and she'd been invited to not one, but two party-things for the weekend. It was kind of bizarre for Leija, but it wasn't really doing much to alleviate the heaviness in her chest. It didn't really have the right to be there, things weren't ... terrible, but there it was anyway. She'd spent almost all day the day before in bed, just laying around staring at the walls, listening to music, and periodically sleeping. It was one of those times again, and it had taken some supreme effort to get out bed in the morning and get in the shower and get in the car to be brought to school.

But she was there and she'd survived half of the day in a fog. In the class before lunch her brain had started to wake up just slightly, and she had the thought that she should find Dylan to eat with. She needed to check on him, she was kind of ... really failing in the role of being his friend. Not that that was terribly surprising for her, she seemed to really suck at that, but it was something he probably needed more than ever now. So once the bell rang she headed toward his locker, hoping to catch him.

Dylan had only just arrived at his locker. He was trying to shove his pencil case behind his art folder, not that his last class had been art but he took it everywhere anyway, when he saw a flash of red from the corner of his eye. He turned towards it and even though he only expected it to be another student, he was glad when it was Leija. It felt like forever since he'd seen her and sure, they'd spoken through text messages but it wasn't the same. Though she had agreed to a date through text, it wasn't like she was there in the flesh with smiles and warm eyes and that hair.

"Leija!" He finally gave up trying to fit everything on the same shelf, put the book on the bottom one and firmly shut his locker. He smiled as he turned back and leaned against his locker, trying to be suave like he'd seen in movies. "What are... I mean, hey, you looking for me?" Man, how he hoped she was.

It was a little easier to smile at him, since he was doing it to her. She seemed to be some emotional chameleon sometimes, blending into the surroundings when she wasn't alone. And Dylan looked happy, so she made an effort to look happy back at him. "Actually I was," she said, stopping in front of him and tucking her hands into her jean pockets. "You got any plans for lunch?" She'd brought her's, it was tucked in her backpack, and she halfway hoped he didn't have to go to the cafeteria for anything.

"Really?" Dylan didn't mean to sound so surprised that she was looking for him, she had agreed on that double date with Kavin after all, but he still didn't expect she'd want to find him. Maybe she really thought they were dating for real now, not that he minded but he didn't really know how to act like a boyfriend. But she was older, he was sure she'd understand. He was clueless about starting a relationship but that was okay. It probably wasn't a good idea to kiss in school anyway, it sounded creepy but there was no harm in eating together on a 'pre-date' and if she wanted to do it where everyone could see? Even better.

Unfortunately for her, Dylan hadn't packed his own that day. It felt too much like stealing when he took food from Doc's kitchen and maybe he'd get over it soon but until then, it meant he would be eating in the cafeteria. He glanced over his shoulder in that direction and shrugged. "My lunch plans? I don't know, I skipped breakfast so I was planning to eat now." Unless she wanted to spend it making out instead but he didn't have the courage to ask for that so instead, he held out his hand and smiled at her. "Come on. How's your day been anyway?"

Completely oblivious to his relationship-flavored line of thinking, Leija nodded with a small smile to his first question. Yes, she really had been looking for him. She had a very limited number of people that she would look for in this school, and he was on the short list. Just not for the reasons that she was unaware he was thinking about. He'd looked at the cafeteria, which was a crappy sign, but it was too cold to try and convince him to go out somewhere for lunch. She didn't think she had any money anyway. Leija slipped her arm into his instead of taking his hand, somehow feeling like that was less intimate -- friends did that, right? She'd seen girls do it all the time -- and started toward the cafeteria. "It's been," she answered with a shrug. "Still kinda ... my sleeping's off 'cause of the storm. Your's?"

Dylan was a little disappointed that she didn't take his hand but an arm was close enough, right? It still counted and maybe she was just shy, something he had trouble believing but maybe she hadn't dated much and didn't know how to act either. He let her take the lead and followed only a step behind. "My sleeping is always off," he said with a shrug. "I'm okay though, just getting used to the new house and stuff. Nate and Frank left so..." Another shrug. Normally this kind of thinking made him sad but today, right then at least, he was almost gleeful Nate wasn't around to tell him Leija didn't want him. It also meant he couldn't gloat either but after their last fight about her, it was probably a good thing. He was quietly thinking about this as he stepped around a group of freshmen gathered in the hallway and looked back at her. "You knew that, right? Don't want to spring it on anyone else, Kavin didn't have a clue and he was Nate's best friend."

Her faint smile faltered just slightly at the mention of Nate, but he wasn't looking at her anyway, so that was okay. Leija trailed along, hanging on to his arm as they moved through people. "Yeah, he told me he was going," she said. It had been a quick and kind-of awkward phone call that had made her cry after they hung up, but she wasn't going to put that on Dylan. She couldn't even imagine what he was going through, and that was something she had to keep in mind here. Her life, sucky as it was, wasn't the worst she even knew personally. "How are you doing ... with all that?" she asked, looking at him. He'd already kind of said, but she didn't really buy that 'I'm okay' crap. Probably because she pulled it herself.

"I'm fine," Dylan said without looking at her. It was an automatic reaction these days, moreso since his father had left him with a work friend and taken his brother. Of course he wasn't fine. He hadn't been for such a long time but it was easier to lie. He almost had himself convinced and it wasn't something he wanted to think about either. He was going to lunch with the girl he liked and besides, it wasn't fair to dump everything on her. With his poker face on, he glanced over to look at her and gave her a small smile. It wasn't as convincing as he liked but he turned back, hoping she hadn't noticed. "Doc's nice, his kids kind of stick to themselves and he has a cool dog so. Yeah, it's okay. What about you, how are you? How was sleeping over at the school? It sounds like the start of a really bad movie plot."

Leija of course noticed that his smile wasn't the most convincing. She was that kind of liar herself, she could see right through when people were doing it. She used to call Caleb out on covering shit up all the time. Not that now was a good time to start thinking about Caleb. There wasn't ever a good time for that anymore. "I didn't stay," she said before she could think better of it. Truth was, she'd flown home, but she couldn't very well tell Dylan that, could she? Nate she could've, but ... that wasn't the point. Not at all. "... my dad ended up coming to get me, he wanted me home. Some friend of his at the college has a snowplow." There, that sounded kind of plausible, right? "You were lucky you skipped that day," she said as a lame sort of re-direction.

"Oh, that's..." Dylan looked at her for a moment as he tried to decide how to word that. Weird, unusual, unlikely? That last one wasn't fair so he didn't add it. He stayed quiet instead and, at the entrance of the cafeteria, he stopped and looked around the room. Tables were filling up quickly but at least the line was moving. He looked back at Leija and reluctantly dropped her arm. "So, uh, one of us grabs the table, other grabs food? Or did you bring it? We could go somewhere quieter to eat too if you wanted." He would have preferred to stay in the cafeteria with the rest of the students who could see who he was with but if she wanted somewhere quieter, he wasn't going to object to that either. He shrugged. "Your call."

She was glad that he didn't question her, and that the cafeteria was distracting, if not the most pleasant place to be. In fact, it was pretty awful, and she really didn't want to go in there. However, there was the possibility that privacy could invite more displays of the crush Dylan pretty obviously had on her, and she kind of didn't want that. Decisions, decisions. After a few seconds' thought, Leija opted for public, and nodded to him, glancing over. "I brought my lunch, so I can scope out a table if you wanna get a tray," she answered with a little smile, hoping that was agreeable. Friends ate lunch together all the time, didn't they?

Dylan was glad when she chose to stay in the more public place and probably a little more relieved than a normal teenage boy should have been. At least this way, when he did finally kiss her, it wouldn't be in the school and he wouldn't have food stuck between his teeth. "Yeah, um, do you want anything?" He asked. He was already taking a couple of steps towards the end of the line and already planning to grab a fruit salad for her. He had no idea if she was allergic to any certain types but wasn't it the thought that counted? He gave her another quick smile then joined the end of the line, turning back to point across the room to an empty spot. "See you in a minute."

"Nah, I think I'm good," she told him, then looked toward where he was pointing. She couldn't help it; she glanced at the area around it, making sure that two people in particular weren't there. No Thom and no Caleb, so that was good. Leija headed toward the empty table, putting her backpack down on it and pulling her lunch out before she settled to wait on Dylan. In the meantime, she debated whether or not she should ask him about what he wanted to talk to her about a few days ago, or just let it go. Or let him broach it. Probably that last one. She hadn't forgotten, she just ... wasn't positive she really wanted to get into whatever it was.

The food line moved quickly and it wasn't long before Dylan was sliding onto his chair, opposite Leija. He had decided against grabbing an extra fruit salad for her but he'd got one for himself which he pushed to the edge of his tray towards her. "Here, have some if you want it." He ignored the plastic bowl and started to eat his fries instead. He was quiet as he settled into his chair and ate his lunch but inside, he was beaming. He was having lunch, it was with a girl he liked. Right then, things were good.